Fuel tank of motor vehicle

ABSTRACT

The fuel tank has an indentation inside which its inlet is positioned. An elastic fuel pipe is provided so that a bottom end of the fuel pipe is fixedly attached to the inlet of the fuel tank. Due to its elasticity, the fuel pipe could easily have its top end aligned with and attached to a fuel inlet of the motor vehicle. A cap is then plugged into the fuel pipe&#39;s top end to seal the fuel tank.

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention generally relates to fuel tanks of motor vehicles,and more particularly to a fuel tank especially suitable for dunebuggies.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART

A dune buggy is a recreational vehicle with large wheels, and widetires, designed for use on sand dunes or beaches. It is also commonlyreferred to as a beach buggy, air buggy, sand rail, etc. A conventionalfuel tank for this type of motor vehicles is shown in FIG. 1. Asillustrated, the fuel tank 1 has an inlet on a top side 11, which issealed by a cap 12. To mount the fuel tank 1 to the frame of a dunebuggy, in order to tolerate the inaccuracy of the buggy's frameassembly, the bolt holes for fixing the fuel tank 1 usually areslot-shaped. Even though this approach does provide some flexibility,the assembly time and production cost would inevitably be increased. Thedifficult terrains where the dune buggy operates in would often causethe fuel tank 1 to break loose from these slotted blot holes.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Therefore, a novel fuel tank is provided herein to obviate the foregoingshortcomings of the conventional fuel tank so that the fuel tank couldbe easily and quickly installed.

The fuel tank has an indentation inside which its inlet is positioned.An elastic fuel pipe is provided so that a bottom end of the fuel pipeis fixedly attached to the inlet of the fuel tank. Due to itselasticity, the fuel pipe could easily have its top end aligned with andattached to a fuel inlet of the motor vehicle. A cap is then pluggedinto the fuel pipe's top end to seal the fuel tank.

The foregoing objectives and summary provide only a brief introductionto the present invention. To fully appreciate these and other objects ofthe present invention as well as the invention itself, all of which willbecome apparent to those skilled in the art, the following detaileddescription of the invention and the claims should be read inconjunction with the accompanying drawings. Throughout the specificationand drawings identical reference numerals refer to identical or similarparts.

Many other advantages and features of the present invention will becomemanifest to those versed in the art upon making reference to thedetailed description and the accompanying sheets of drawings in which apreferred structural embodiment incorporating the principles of thepresent invention is shown by way of illustrative example.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective diagram showing a conventional fuel tank.

FIG. 2 is a perspective diagram showing a fuel tank according to anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a perspective diagram showing the fuel tank of FIG. 2 withoutthe locking plate.

FIG. 4 is a sectional diagram showing the fuel tank of FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing the mounting of the fuel tank ofFIG. 2 to the frame of a motor vehicle.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The following descriptions are exemplary embodiments only, and are notintended to limit the scope, applicability or configuration of theinvention in any way. Rather, the following description provides aconvenient illustration for implementing exemplary embodiments of theinvention. Various changes to the described embodiments may be made inthe function and arrangement of the elements described without departingfrom the scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a fuel tank 2 according to an embodiment ofthe present invention has a hollow body and its inlet is positionedinside an indentation 21 on a top side of the body. A fuel pipe 3 isjoined to and extended from the inlet. The fuel pipe 3 has an elastictubular body 31 that could be lengthened, shortened, and swayed to aside. The fuel pipe 3 has a first ring 32 and a second ring 33surrounding a bottom end and a top end of the body 31, respectively. Thefirst ring 32 is for fixing the fuel pipe 3 to the indentation 21. Thefuel pipe 3 further has a locking ring 4, also surrounding the body 31,between the first and second rings 32 and 33 and positioned rightbeneath the second ring 33. A number of locking holes 41 are provided onthe locking ring 4, surrounding the second ring 33. As further shown inFIG. 4, an opening 22 is provided on a side wall of the indentation 21and an air tube 23 connects the opening 22 to the fuel pipe 3.

The installation of the fuel tank 2 to a motor vehicle 6 is shown inFIG. 5. As illustrated, bolts are driven through the locking holes 41into a frame 5 of the motor vehicle 6 so that the locking ring 4, andtherefore the second ring 33, are fixedly attached to the frame 5 andthe top end of the fuel pipe 3 is precisely aligned and tightlyconnected to a fuel inlet 61 of the motor vehicle 6. Then a cap 7 isplugged into the top end of the fuel pipe 3 to seal the fuel tank 2.

As the fuel pipe 3's elasticity, it could easily tolerate any inaccuracyin the assembly of the motor vehicle. The installation of the fuel tank2 is therefore simplified and less troublesome. Additionally, the airtube 23 allows extraneous air inside the fuel tank 2 to be expelled viathe fuel pipe 3.

It will be understood that each of the elements described above, or twoor more together may also find a useful application in other types ofmethods differing from the type described above.

While certain novel features of this invention have been shown anddescribed and are pointed out in the annexed claim, it is not intendedto be limited to the details above, since it will be understood thatvarious omissions, modifications, substitutions and changes in the formsand details of the device illustrated and in its operation can be madeby those skilled in the art without departing in any way from the spiritof the present invention.

1. A fuel tank of a motor vehicle, comprising: a hollow body having anindentation inside which an inlet is positioned; an elastic fuel pipewhose bottom end is fixedly joined to said inlet and whose top end isfixedly attached to a frame of said motor vehicle and aligned with afuel inlet of said motor vehicle; and a cap plugged into said top end ofsaid fuel pipe to seal said fuel tank.
 2. The fuel tank according toclaim 1, wherein said fuel pipe comprises a first ring and a second ringsurrounding a bottom end and a top end of said fuel pipe.
 3. The fueltank according to claim 1, further comprising an air tube connecting anopening on a side wall of said indentation to said fuel pipe.